Allison Arieff tells it like it is in this interview with LA Times. This weekend, Arieff, Michelle Kaufmann, Jennifer Siegal, and Rocio Romero will be doing a panel called "The 4 Women of Prefab" at CA Boom Show in Santa Monica, California, March 14-16, 2008. I’d do anything to be there for that! Any one handy with a video that will be there, email: jetsongreen at yahoo dot com.

It’s a story that I’m seeing more and more, although I’m not too sure we’re seeing a good thing. Nissan USA spends $100 M to build a brand new office building and plans for LEED Silver certification, but in the end, they decide to spend certification cash on the wetland "rather than have a plaque on the wall."# Certification gets dropped, but we should ask ourselves a serious question: Is LEED certification merely about the plaque? Is that the only benefit we see from LEED? Spending money to get a plaque?

I’ve been thinking a lot about minimalism lately for some reason. We all have an idea of what "minimalism" is, but I wanted to dig a little deeper. According to Wikipedia, minimalism describes a movement where "work is stripped down to its most fundamental features … it is rooted in the reductive aspects of Modernism, and is often interpreted as a reaction against abstract impressionism and a bridge to Postmodern art practices." Strip it down to the fundamentals.

I like the concept of stripping stuff down to the fundamentals. You can strip down anything and literally find that "less is more." Try it. I honestly believe that with the right amount of less, less can be more. Why is that? Well, quite simply because less equals the fundamentals and enjoying the fundamentals — with no excess — feels good. Let me explain my thoughts on the lifestyle of minimalism.

On a related note, I realize there are some strong opinions about LEED and its so called issues or problems. Let’s treat this as an open thread for comments relating to anything and everything you’ve heard that is a potential problem with LEED. True or not, list the obstacle. I’m going to be working on something based on the comments below. Say it don’t spray it.